The statement will gain him some support. Those folks probably would have eventually gone for Santorum anyway. But it will put off LOTS of people that are currently sitting on the fence.
So it's a net loss, a major net loss.
It will hurt Santorum a little in the primaries, and hurt him a lot in the general election should he get the nomination.
Remember, the R nominee has to fight two opponents, Obama and the relentless MSM attack machine. Don't underestimate the power and ruthlessness of that machine! It ground up Palin, then spit her out.
Unless, of course, this grows into a full-fledged debate.
Should religion truly become an issue in either the primary or the general election, many more voters are going to agree with Santorum than with Willard’s holy underpants or Barry0’s Rev. Wright racist theology.
I say shine the sun on the subject. Neither Mitt nor the Obama campaign can risk religion as an issue.
The statement will gain him some support. Those folks probably would have eventually gone for Santorum anyway. But it will put off LOTS of people that are currently sitting on the fence.
So it's a net loss, a major net loss.
Yup. With Santorum we are going to have an entire election focusing on rubbers, birth control pills, the influence of Satan, women in the workplace, etc. Some candidates with a record of comments like Rick's could move past them, but not Santorum. Noooo, he will be baited time and time again into talking about this stuff because in his heart, he WANTS to talk about it. Being a social conservative is really all he has ever been known for. So an election that should be a referendum on Hussein's horrific stewardship of the economy would instead turn on culture war issues, such as contraception, which have been long since decided.
With Santorum we will lose and lose big. This talk about contraception, Satan targeting America, whether it would be better if women were home having more babies, etc, will flat out turn off the vast majority of independent voters and many/most younger more libertine economic conservatives that were open to some parts of the conservative platform. Rick would lose by a minimum of 10 points - possibly as many as 15 or so. We will not win back the White House, we will not win back the Senate and we will almost certainly lose the House. Obama will have his mandate.
So the MSM attack machine ground up Palin and spit [sic] her out. Their spittin’ distance must be pretty short considering the influence she wielded in ‘06 and what she will wield this year. Heck, why bother with HBO movies if she’s no longer a threat?